Today I’ll be talking about how the second Balkan War and the July Crisis are significant event in history. I think we learn about the 1913 Balkan War and the 1914 July Crisis, because it gives us a better understanding of how the alliance system works, and how if a conflict is neglected it can turn into a bigger one, in this case WWI. These events are mostly remembered for being the root of WWI, because the July Crisis was a result of the second Balkan War not being completely solved, therefore leaving a tension between Austria-Hungary and Russia, the tension kept building up until the begging of WWI.
Second Balkan War (1913)
The Balkan War of 1913, is important because it shows how much of an important role imperialism played into the cause of WWI. During the Balkan War of 1912 Austria-Hungary and Russia were in a disagreement about who should get the Ottoman’s territory. The reason behind their interest in that land, was to expend their power and territory they had lost in previous battles. Countries with less power such as Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria made the Balkan League in order to take over the Balkan before Austria-Hungary. Imperialism is what brought those countries of a lesser power together to be able to fight back a greater country like Austria-Hungary. What started the second Balkan War, was Bulgaria declaring war to Serbia and losing it along with its territories in the Balkan. Almost all the actions made during any of the Balkan wars were based on imperialism, because all the countries who tried to gain territory in the Balkan wanted it to expend their power in the world. The only participants of the second Balkan War who didn’t want to expend their territory were: France, Britain, and Germany. Those nations were only backing up their allies to ensure their own protection in case they got attacked. Their involvement into that war shows that allies were really valued at that time. At the end of the second war there was still a lot of tension building up in between the two groups of alliances.
July Crisis (1914)
The July Crisis is an important series of events that happened each day leading to WWI. This event is very significant to WWI history, because it shows how the alliance system worked during war time, and how militarism is used to solve a bunch of little conflicts. On July 31, Russia had already mobilized its troops ready to go to war against Austrian who had declared war a few days ago to Serbia, Russia’s allie. This kind of quick response to Austria-Hungary’s war declaration could be described as militarism, because Russia doesn’t try to solve the issue between Serbia and Austria-Hungary in a diplomatic way, but rather go for war. July 31 could be an example of how alliance system works, but a better example of how alliances work is August 3 to August 12. Because Germany declared war to France then Britain declared war to Germany, like the Triple Entente agreed on. Austria-Hungary declares war to Russia, to protect Germany, like the Dual Alliance states that they should help each other out if one gets attacked by the enemies. France and Britain then declared war to Austria-Hungary to protect Russia. These war declarations tell us that in order for an allie to help, the other allie(s) must already be into war. Another example of militarism is August 3 when Germany invaded Belgium after being refused free-passage on the same day.
These two events are important depending on where and when a person has access to the events’ information. Because the information given might vary depending on the perspective the documents are written into. Like per example someone from Russia in 1919 after the war could write about the Balkan wars, and make Austria-Hungary sound like the nation to blame for WWI. When on the other hand someone who lives today could write about the Balkan wars without having to make a country look like the victim of another. And of course the reason why we have more access to information about WWI than 50 years ago is because we can get information from all perspectives very easily.
You drew a good analysis regarding how the aspects of imperialism, alliance systems and militarism greatly influenced and developed two of the most significant events relating to WW1.
For Second Balkan War, I think you explained well concerning the role of imperialism. However, you could have gone a bit more further, to connect imperialism with not only the countries of Balkans but also including countries you mentioned above – France, Britain and Germany. I think by doing this, it would help you to make a firm connection between the 2nd Balkan War’s significance to the outbreak of WW1.
For July Crisis, I think you went to cover the significance very broadly. Either giving a deep analysis on militarism or alliance system would allow you to draw greater insights on significance piece.
I enjoyed reading your article, with covering wide range of materials that we are focusing right now. The last paragraph, regarding the evaluation of sources, would serve a greater role if you connect those points to the causation of WW1 such as imperialism, militarism and alliance system.
Hello,
I really liked your focus on why the alliances were created, and the factors leading to it. Your analysis also explained clearly how these alliances all played out during the war. I also like how you used the events of the Balkan War and the July Crisis that brought these alliances to take effect. You also have a very nice conclusion on how history is written, and why events long ago are harder to have bias than events that are relatively recent.
Reading your article has helped me to see how imperialism and allies played such a big role in leading up to WWI
As for the Second Balkan War, I always questioned why the countries you mentioned (France, Britain, Germany) would get involved when they didn’t want to expend their territory. Now I know that alliances were VERY important in terms of defense. With the building tension it’s obvious to me now that each country would want to have as many allies as possible in case of future wars.
In your writing about the July Crisis you’ve made me realize something. I never considered the possibility of Russia trying to settle things between Serbia and Austria Hungary diplomatically. I just assumed that it was right for them to mobilize troops in defense since they should be ready to defend their ally.
I enjoyed this article, thank you for introducing me to new perspectives ^^
Hi Jessica,
The organization of this post is a strength. The opening sets the context for the overall significance and the closing is a succinct wrap-up with implications and new take-aways. The role of imperialism was indeed a major factor in the Balkan Wars, and it is good to remember that the Ottoman Empire was looking to be devoured by European countries just as Africa was 30 years earlier, but Germany, France and Britain were not directly involved in the Balkan Wars. In fact their restraint in abstaining from joining their allies is significant. I notice the July Crisis section focuses primarily on the days immediately preceding the various war declarations, and the links made to alliances and militarism help justify this period as one of significance. Since both events you selected revolve around alliances, I wonder why that development was not singled out for analysis?